Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 163 / Thursday, August 24, 2023 / Notices 58055 

Whitney Baird, 

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau 

of Economic and Business Affairs, 

Department of State. 

[FR Doc. 2023–17643 Filed 8–23–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–AE–C 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD 

[Docket No. FD 36708] 

John Howell—Continuation of Control 

Exemption—Washington, Idaho & 

Montana Railway LLC 

John Howell (Howell), a noncarrier, 

has filed a verified notice of exemption 

under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2) to exempt 

from the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 11323 

his continuance in control of 

Washington, Idaho & Montana Railway 

LLC (WIM), a noncarrier, upon WIM’s 

becoming a Class III rail carrier. 

The transaction is related to a 

concurrently filed verified notice of 

exemption in Washington, Idaho & 

Montana Railway LLC—Operation 

Exemption—BLPI RR LLC, Docket No. 

FD 36707. In that proceeding, WIM 

seeks an exemption under 49 CFR 

1150.31 to operate approximately 

43.744 miles of rail line in the County 

of Latah, Idaho, from milepost 3.32 

(Washington/Idaho state line) to 

milepost 47.06 at Bovill, Idaho (the 

Line). The Line is owned by the BLPI 

RR LLC (BLPI RR), a Class III carrier. 

According to the verified notice, 

Howell controls three other Class III 

carriers: (1) West Erie Shortline Inc. 

(WESL), which Howell controls through 

majority stock owned by Northern 

Illinois & Wisconsin Railway 

Corporation, d/b/a NIWX Corporation, a 

non-carrier (NIWX); (2) Blackwell 

Northern Gateway Railroad Company 

(BNG), which Howell controls through 

majority of shares owned either 

personally or through NIWX; and (3) 

Davenport Industrial Railroad (DIR), in 

which Howell holds a minority interest. 

The verified notice states that Howell 

will continue in control of WIM upon 

WIM’s becoming a Class III rail carrier. 

Howell represents that: (1) the rail 

properties operated by WESL and BNG 

and those to be operated by WIM do not 

connect with each other or any railroads 

in their corporate family; (2) the 

continuance in control of WIM is not 

part of a series of anticipated 

transactions that would connect the rail 

lines of WESL, BNG, DIR, and WIM 

with each other or any railroad in the 

corporate family; and (3) the transaction 

does not involve a Class I rail carrier. 

The transaction, therefore, is exempt 

from the prior approval requirements of 

49 U.S.C. 11323. See 49 U.S.C. 

1180.2(d)(2). 

Under 49 U.S.C. 10502(g), the Board 

may not use its exemption authority to 

relieve a rail carrier of its statutory 

obligation to protect the interests of its 

employees. However, 49 U.S.C. 11326(c) 

does not provide for labor protection for 

transactions under 49 U.S.C. 11324 and 

11325 that involve only Class III rail 

carriers. Accordingly, because this 

transaction involves Class III rail 

carriers only, the Board may not impose 

labor protective conditions here. 

The earliest this transaction may be 

consummated is September 7, 2023, the 

effective date of the exemption (30 days 

after the verified notice was filed). If the 

verified notice contains false or 

misleading information, the exemption 

is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the 

exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) 

may be filed at any time. The filing of 

a petition to revoke will not 

automatically stay the effectiveness of 

the exemption. Petitions for stay must 

be filed no later than August 31, 2023 

(at least seven days before the 

exemption becomes effective). 

All pleadings, referring to Docket No. 

FD 36708, must be filed with the 

Surface Transportation Board either via 

e-filing on the Board’s website or in 

writing addressed to 395 E Street SW, 

Washington, DC 20423–0001. In 

addition, a copy of each pleading must 

be served on Howell’s representative, 

John K. Fiorilla, Dyer & Peterson, PC, 

605 Main Street, Suite 104, Riverton, NJ 

08077–1440. 

According to Howell, this action is 

categorically excluded from 

environmental review under 49 CFR 

1105.6(c) and from historic preservation 

reporting requirements under 49 CFR 

1105.8(b). 

Board decisions and notices are 

available at www.stb.gov. 

Decided: August 21, 2023. 

By the Board, Mai T. Dinh, Director, Office 

of Proceedings. 

Tammy Lowery, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2023–18248 Filed 8–23–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

[Docket Number USTR–2023–0009] 

2023 Review of Notorious Markets for 

Counterfeiting and Piracy: Comment 

Request 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Office of the United 

States Trade Representative (USTR) 

requests comments that identify online 

and physical markets to be considered 

for inclusion in the 2023 Review of 

Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting 

and Piracy (Notorious Markets List). The 

Notorious Markets List identifies 

examples of online and physical 

markets that reportedly engage in or 

facilitate substantial copyright piracy or 

trademark counterfeiting. The issue 

focus for the 2023 Notorious Markets 

List will examine the potential health 

and safety risks posed by counterfeit 

goods. 

DATES: 

October 6, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. ET: 

Deadline for submission of written 

comments. 

October 20, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. ET: 

Deadline for submission of rebuttal 

comments and other information USTR 

should consider during the review. 

ADDRESSES: You should submit written 

comments through the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov (Regulations.gov). 

Follow the instructions for submitting 

comments in section III below. For 

alternatives to online submissions, 

please contact Jake Ewerdt at 

notoriousmarkets@ustr.eop.gov or (202) 

395–6862 before transmitting a 

comment and in advance of the relevant 

deadline. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jake 

Ewerdt, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade 

Representative for Innovation and 

Intellectual Property, at 

notoriousmarkets@ustr.eop.gov or (202) 

395–6862. You can find information 

about the Special 301 Review, including 

the Notorious Markets List, at 

www.ustr.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The United States is concerned with 

trademark counterfeiting and copyright 

piracy on a commercial scale because 

these illicit activities cause significant 

financial losses for right holders, 

legitimate businesses, and governments. 

In addition, they undermine critical 

U.S. comparative advantages in 

innovation and creativity to the 

detriment of American workers, and can 

pose significant risks to consumer 

health and safety and privacy and 

security. Conducted under the auspices 

of the Special 301 program and the 

authority of the U.S. Trade 

Representative to address practices that 

have significant adverse impact on the 

value of U.S. innovation, the Notorious 

Markets List identifies examples of 

online and physical markets that 


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58056 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 163 / Thursday, August 24, 2023 / Notices 

reportedly engage in or facilitate 

substantial copyright piracy or 

trademark counterfeiting that infringe 

on U.S. intellectual property (IP). 

Beginning in 2006, USTR identified 

notorious markets in the annual Special 

301 Report. In 2010, USTR announced 

that it would publish the Notorious 

Markets List as an Out-of-Cycle Review, 

separate from the annual Special 301 

Report. USTR published the first 

Notorious Markets List in February 

2011. USTR develops the annual 

Notorious Markets List based upon 

public comments solicited through the 

Federal Register and in consultation 

with Federal agencies that serve on the 

Special 301 Subcommittee of the Trade 

Policy Staff Committee. 

The United States encourages owners 

and operators of markets reportedly 

involved in piracy or counterfeiting to 

adopt business models that rely on the 

licensed distribution of legitimate 

content and products and to work with 

right holders and enforcement officials 

to address infringement. USTR also 

encourages foreign government 

authorities to intensify their efforts to 

investigate reports of piracy and 

counterfeiting in such markets, and to 

pursue appropriate enforcement actions. 

The Notorious Markets List does not 

purport to reflect findings of legal 

violations, nor does it reflect the U.S. 

Government’s analysis of the general IP 

protection and enforcement climate in 

the country or countries concerned. For 

an analysis of the IP climate in 

particular countries, please refer to the 

annual Special 301 Report, published 

each spring no later than 30 days after 

USTR submits the National Trade 

Estimate to Congress. 

II. Public Comments 

USTR invites written comments 

concerning examples of online and 

physical markets that reportedly engage 

in and facilitate substantial copyright 

piracy or trademark counterfeiting that 

infringe on U.S. intellectual property. 

USTR also invites written comments for 

the Notorious Markets List ‘issue focus’ 

that highlights an issue related to the 

facilitation of substantial trademark 

counterfeiting or copyright piracy. The 

issue focus for the 2023 Notorious 

Markets List will examine the potential 

health and safety risks posed by 

counterfeit goods. 

To facilitate the review, written 

comments should be as detailed as 

possible. Comments must clearly 

identify the market and the reasons why 

the commenter believes that the market 

should be included in the Notorious 

Markets List. Commenters should 

include the following information, as 

applicable: 

For online markets that engage in or 

facilitate substantial counterfeiting: 

• The domain name(s) of the market, 

the name(s) of the owner(s) or 

operator(s), the geographic area(s) where 

the market operates, and whether the 

market is owned, operated, or otherwise 

affiliated with a government entity. 

• Estimate of the number of goods 

sold or otherwise made available on the 

market and any other indicia of the 

market’s scale, reach, or relative 

significance in a given geographic area 

or with respect to a category of goods. 

• Estimate of the number and types of 

goods sold or otherwise made available 

on the market that are counterfeit, either 

in aggregate or in relation to the total 

number and types of goods sold or 

otherwise made available on the market, 

a description of the methodology used 

to create the estimate and the timeframe 

the estimate was conducted, and 

information supporting the claims of 

counterfeiting. 

• Estimate of economic harm to right 

holders resulting from the counterfeit 

goods and a description of the 

methodology used to calculate the harm. 

• Whether the number and types of 

counterfeit goods or the economic harm 

has increased or decreased from 

previous years, and an approximate 

calculation of that increase or decrease 

for each year. 

• Whether the counterfeit goods sold 

or otherwise made available on the 

market pose a risk to public health or 

safety. 

• Any known contractual, civil, 

administrative, or criminal enforcement 

activity against the market and the 

outcome of that enforcement activity. 

• Any actions taken by right holders, 

such as discussing concerns with the 

market, submitting takedown notices or 

requests to remove counterfeit goods, 

sending cease and desist letters, or 

requesting that the market enforce its 

terms of service or terms of use, and the 

outcome of these actions. 

• Any actions taken by the market 

owners or operators to remove, limit, or 

discourage the availability of counterfeit 

goods, including policies to prevent or 

remove access to such goods, or to 

disable seller or user accounts, the 

effectiveness of market policies and 

guidelines in addressing counterfeiting, 

and the level of cooperation with right 

holders and law enforcement. 

• Any other additional information 

relevant to the review. 

For online markets that engage in or 

facilitate substantial piracy: 

• The domain name(s) of the market, 

the name(s) and location(s) of the 

hosting provider(s), the name(s) and 

location(s) of the owner(s) or 

operator(s), the geographic area(s) where 

the market operates, and whether the 

market is owned, operated, or otherwise 

affiliated with a government entity. 

• Revenue sources such as sales, 

subscriptions, donations, upload 

incentives, or advertising, the methods 

by which that revenue is collected, and 

the entities that help facilitate the 

market’s revenue. 

• Description and estimate of 

economic harm to right holders 

resulting from piracy and a description 

of the methodology used to calculate the 

harm. 

• Whether the number of pirated 

goods or files, or the economic harm, 

has increased or decreased from 

previous years, and an approximate 

calculation of that increase or decrease 

for each year. 

• Any known contractual, civil, 

administrative, or criminal enforcement 

activity against the market and the 

outcome of that enforcement activity. 

• Any actions taken by right holders, 

such as discussing concerns with the 

market, submitting takedown notices or 

requests to remove URLs or pirated 

content, sending cease and desist letters, 

or requesting that the market enforce its 

terms of service or terms of use, and the 

outcome of these actions. 

• Any actions taken by the market 

owners or operators to remove, limit, or 

discourage the availability of pirated 

goods or services, including policies to 

prevent or remove access to such goods 

or services, or to disable seller or user 

accounts, the effectiveness of market 

policies and guidelines in addressing 

piracy, and the level of cooperation with 

right holders and law enforcement. 

• Any other additional information 

relevant to the review. 

For physical markets that engage in or 

facilitate substantial counterfeiting or 

piracy: 

• The market’s name(s), street 

address, neighborhood or shopping 

district, city, and the identity of the 

principal owner(s) or operator(s). 

• Whether the market is owned, 

operated, or otherwise affiliated with a 

government entity. 

• Types of counterfeit or pirated 

products or services sold, traded, 

distributed, or otherwise made available 

at the market. 

• Volume of counterfeit or pirated 

goods or services or other indicia of the 

market’s scale, reach, or relative 

significance in a given geographic area 

or with respect to a category of goods or 

services. 

• Description and estimate of 

economic harm to right holders 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 163 / Thursday, August 24, 2023 / Notices 58057 

resulting from the piracy or 

counterfeiting and a description of the 

methodology used to calculate the harm. 

• Whether the volume of counterfeit 

or pirated goods or estimates of harm 

has increased or decreased from 

previous years, and an approximate 

calculation of that increase or decrease 

for each year. 

• Whether the infringing goods or 

services sold, traded, distributed, or 

made available pose a risk to public 

health or safety. 

• Any known contractual, civil, 

administrative, or criminal enforcement 

activity against the market and the 

outcome of that enforcement activity. 

• Additional actions taken by right 

holders, such as discussing concerns 

with the market, sending cease and 

desist letters, sending warning letters to 

landlords or requests to enforce the 

terms of their leases, and the outcome 

of these actions. 

• Additional actions taken by the 

market owners or operators to remove, 

limit, or discourage the availability of 

counterfeit or pirated goods or services, 

the effectiveness of market policies and 

guidelines in addressing counterfeiting 

and piracy, and the level of cooperation 

with right holders and law enforcement. 

• Any other additional information 

relevant to the review. 

III. Submission Instructions 

All submissions must be in English 

and sent electronically via 

Regulations.gov. To submit comments, 

locate the docket (folder) by entering the 

docket number USTR–2023–0009 in the 

search bar on the Regulations.gov 

homepage and click ‘search.’ The site 

will provide a search-results page listing 

all documents associated with this 

docket. Locate the reference to this 

notice by selecting ‘notice’ under 

‘document type’ on the left side of the 

search-results page, and click on the 

link entitled ‘Comment’. You should 

provide comments in an attached 

document, and name the file according 

to the following protocol, as 

appropriate: Commenter Name or 

Organization_2023 Notorious Markets. 

Please include the following 

information in the ‘type comment’ field: 

2023 Review of Notorious Markets for 

Counterfeiting and Piracy. USTR prefers 

submissions in Microsoft Word (.docx) 

or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. If the 

submission is in another file format, 

please indicate the name of the software 

application in the ‘type comment’ field. 

For further information on using 

Regulations.gov, please select ‘how to 

use Regulations.gov’ on the bottom of 

any page. 

Please do not attach separate cover 

letters to electronic submissions. 

Instead, include any information that 

might appear in a cover letter in the 

comments themselves. Similarly, to the 

extent possible, please include any 

exhibits, annexes, or other attachments 

in the same file as the comment itself, 

rather than submitting them as separate 

files. 

Please include the name, email 

address, and phone number of an 

individual who can be contacted if there 

are issues or questions with the 

submission. The contact information 

can be included in the submission or 

sent to Jake Ewerdt, Deputy Assistant 

U.S. Trade Representative for 

Innovation and Intellectual Property, at 

notoriousmarkets@ustr.eop.gov or (202) 

395–6862. 

For any comment submitted 

electronically that contains business 

confidential information (BCI), the file 

name of the business confidential 

version should begin with the characters 

‘BCI’. Any page containing BCI must be 

clearly marked ‘BUSINESS 

CONFIDENTIAL’ on the top of that page 

and the submission should clearly 

indicate, via brackets, highlighting, or 

other means, the specific information 

that is business confidential. A filer 

requesting business confidential 

treatment must certify that the 

information is business confidential and 

that they would not customarily release 

it to the public. Additionally, the 

submitter should type ‘Business 

Confidential 2023 Review of Notorious 

Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy’ 

in the ‘comment’ field. Filers of 

comments containing BCI also must 

submit a public version. Begin the file 

name of the public version with the 

character ‘P’. USTR will place the nonbusiness confidential version in the 

docket at Regulations.gov and it will be 

available for public inspection. 

As noted, USTR strongly urges 

submitters to file comments through 

Regulations.gov. You must make any 

alternative arrangements in advance of 

the relevant deadline and before 

transmitting a comment by contacting 

Jake Ewerdt at notoriousmarkets@

ustr.eop.gov or (202) 395–6862. 

USTR will post comments in the 

docket for public inspection, except 

properly designated BCI. You can view 

comments on Regulations.gov by 

entering docket number USTR–2023– 

0009 in the search field on the home 

page. 

Daniel Lee, 

Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for 

Innovation and Intellectual Property, Office 

of the United States Trade Representative. 

[FR Doc. 2023–18201 Filed 8–23–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3390–F3–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2023–0153] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Renewal of an Approved 

Information Collection: Truck and Bus 

Maintenance Requirements and Their 

Impact on Safety 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), Department 

of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

FMCSA announces its plan to submit 

the Information Collection Request (ICR) 

described below to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for its 

review and approval and invites public 

comment. FMCSA requests approval to 

renew an ICR titled, ‘‘Truck and Bus 

Maintenance Requirements and Their 

Impact on Safety’’ will allow for a study 

that focuses on vehicle maintenance and 

aims to determine the impact of vehicle 

maintenance requirements on overall 

motor carrier safety. This information 

collection supports the DOT Strategic 

Goal of Safety. 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received on or before September 1, 

2023. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by Docket Number FMCSA– 

2023–0153 using any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Mail: Dockets Operations; U.S. 

Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, 

Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590– 

0001. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: Dockets 

Operations, U.S. Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, West Building, Ground 

Floor, Washington, DC 20590–0001 

between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 


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